Foreign Investment in Bulgaria

What is the legal treatment of foreign investors in Bulgaria?
• Equal rights and position of the Bulgarian and foreign investors • Priority of those international agreements that guarantee more favorable conditions for carrying out business activities by foreign persons • Unlimited foreign participation in all forms of business activity registered in Bulgaria

How can an enterprise with foreign investment be established in Bulgaria?
• Foreign investment typically assumes one of the following forms: establishing a joint venture with existing companies; acquiring a company through privatization; setting up a new (green field) venture or making a portfolio investment.

Which are the preferred types of business organizations with foreign investment?
• The most common form of organization for foreign investors is a limited liability company. Other types are general partnership, limited partnership, joint stock company, sole proprietorship, joint venture, branch, holding, cooperatives, representative office. Limited liability companies, unlimited partnerships, public limited companies, limited partnerships, holdings and cooperatives are legal entities. Branches and representations are not independent legal entities: branches may engage in economic activities, they have their own property and compile a separate balance sheet; representations may not engage in economic activities.

Is the extent or amount of foreign participation in companies limited?
• No

What are the guarantees for foreign investment in Bulgaria?
• National Treatment • Most Favored Nation Status • Priority of International Treaties • Legal Guarantees against Adverse Changes in the Law - the provisions of the Law that have been effective at the moment of making the investment, should be applied for any foreign investment executed before the changes of the legislation setting up legal normative restrictions for the foreign investment. • Protection Against Expropriation - real estate property owned by a foreign person can be expropriated only on lawful grounds, for especially important purposes of the State that can not be satisfied otherwise.


• Can foreigners acquire ownership rights over land in Bulgaria?
Foreign individuals can not own land (this is a Constitutional prohibition). However, the Foreign Investment Law removed the restrictions on acquisition of land by locally-registered companies with foreign participation. By setting up or joining a company incorporated under the Bulgarian legislation foreign persons can acquire full land ownership rights including ownership rights on agricultural land.


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